Going with the Grain: Athenian State Formation and the Question of Subsistence in the 5th and 4th Centuries BCE
Ulrike Krotscheck (Stanford University)
Princeton/Stanford Working Papers in Classics, January (2006)
Abstract
In this paper, I address the role of Athenian grain trade policy as a driving factor of the city’s growing power in the 5th and 4th centuries. Recent explanations of increasing Athenian hegemony and dominance over other poleis during this time period have focused on the role of warfare. I present an equally important, yet often-overlooked factor: food supply. Athens was dependent on grain imports throughout the Classical Period. Through examination of the ancient sources, I demonstrate that the increasing need to secure subsistence goods for Athens significantly propelled its ambition for power, causing a fundamental shift from a non-interventionist government policy to one of heavy intervention between the 5th and the 4th centuries BCE. This shift corresponded to an increasing complexity within the mechanisms of the city’s politics. It helped propel Athenian state formation and affected the dynamic of power and politics in the ancient Mediterranean world.
In his recent book Against the Grain, Richard Manning argues that most apparently fundamental forces that have shaped the world, such as trade, wealth, disease, slavery, imperialism, and colonialism, are based on agricultural production. While Manning does offer a description of agriculture throughout human history, his main focus is on contemporary politics, specifically the US agribusiness. Manning may go a bit far in his ultimate conclusion – calling, among other things, for a return to hunting for subsistence – but he makes a salient point. Because of its role as a staple subsistence crop, grain has shaped the history of politics, of nation- building, and of society in a significant way. This is true for both the more recent and the more distant past: as Garnsey asserts, even in “…antiquity, food was power”.
Ulrike Krotscheck (Stanford University)
Princeton/Stanford Working Papers in Classics, January (2006)
Abstract
In this paper, I address the role of Athenian grain trade policy as a driving factor of the city’s growing power in the 5th and 4th centuries. Recent explanations of increasing Athenian hegemony and dominance over other poleis during this time period have focused on the role of warfare. I present an equally important, yet often-overlooked factor: food supply. Athens was dependent on grain imports throughout the Classical Period. Through examination of the ancient sources, I demonstrate that the increasing need to secure subsistence goods for Athens significantly propelled its ambition for power, causing a fundamental shift from a non-interventionist government policy to one of heavy intervention between the 5th and the 4th centuries BCE. This shift corresponded to an increasing complexity within the mechanisms of the city’s politics. It helped propel Athenian state formation and affected the dynamic of power and politics in the ancient Mediterranean world.
In his recent book Against the Grain
, Richard Manning argues that most apparently fundamental forces that have shaped the world, such as trade, wealth, disease, slavery, imperialism, and colonialism, are based on agricultural production. While Manning does offer a description of agriculture throughout human history, his main focus is on contemporary politics, specifically the US agribusiness. Manning may go a bit far in his ultimate conclusion – calling, among other things, for a return to hunting for subsistence – but he makes a salient point. Because of its role as a staple subsistence crop, grain has shaped the history of politics, of nation- building, and of society in a significant way. This is true for both the more recent and the more distant past: as Garnsey asserts, even in “…antiquity, food was power”.
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